Eternal Reward and Eternal Life

I was reading Mark today and thought you all might enjoy this. But since I've already really covered the subject on these two studies (and others as well) The reasons for the rapture, the tribulation & the Millennium
Are you ashamed of Jesus?

I'll just paste what the commentary says here. This is one of my favorite teachers and I love how he writes, and I thought you all might enjoy hearing from someone else besides me lol I'm not going to paste the entire commentary on it as it's quite long and I doubt if anyone would read it all, so I'll just post some of it.

Mark 10:35–45 (NIV84) — Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.” When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

It really helps to read both the one in Mark and the passage in Matthew to get the full meaning of the passages...but I'm only gong to post the one here.

John and James Seek Favors (Matthew 20:20–28; Mark 10:35–45)

The question put by the two brothers was very perceptive, for they had come to recognize that a believer’s eternal reward is not going to be measured in possessions, but rather in status and glory. They were right, for our Lord did not correct them in any way, thus confirming both that status in the eternal Kingdom is a major element in the believer’s reward, and that reward is somehow related to His glory.

Our Lord explained that John and James would indeed be baptized in the Holy Spirit (this happened at Pentecost) and would also drink the cup of service.

Jesus explained that the two most prestigious positions in His Kingdom will be awarded by His Father, not Him, and will be awarded to the two souls whom God has predetermined will occupy them. This predetermination is based on God’s foreknowledge (Rom 8:29)—foreknowledge of how they and the rest of saved mankind will perform in the use of their independent volition.

He explained that position in the Kingdom of God will be determined by service on this earth (Mark 10:42–45). The more a believer serves on earth, the higher will be his status in God’s eternal Kingdom. This is quite the converse to the worldly pattern (v. 42), but this is the principle in the Church. Study vv. 43–44 carefully, for it actually depicts three categories which encompass the whole Church. The generic plural ‘you’ represents the whole Church, then there are ‘servant’ and ‘slave’; our Lord assures us that the servant on earth will be ‘great’ in the eternal Kingdom, but the slave on earth will be even ‘greater.’ This is the formula for success in the eternal Kingdom of God: self-denying service on earth. The apostles believed this and delighted in the title ‘slave,’ as all the named writers of the epistles attest.

We cannot escape the fact that our Lord taught that in His Kingdom there will be a broad mass of people: those who were essentially content to be ministered to on earth without ministering to others in turn. Then, on a higher plane, there are those who involve themselves in the ministry of the Church (consider Eph 4:12—God intends all saints to be involved in the ministry [service] of the Church). And, finally, on a still higher plane, there are those who have of their own volition resigned all personal rights and have become slaves to Christ—who do His bidding without thought of their own desires, whose dedication to their Lord is pure and complete. They are His slaves on earth, and will enjoy the highest status eternally. Heaven and the New Earth to come are not a classless society; there will be three main classes, just as there were three classes in the temporal society our Lord described in v. 42: commoners, rulers, and great ones (princes).

Your position in that eternal society will not be determined by accident of birth, chance, or happenstance, but on how diligently you serve your Lord on this earth during this life by becoming involved in the affairs of His Kingdom here on earth in the here and now!

This is where the riddle of ‘many who are first will be last, and the last first’ fits (v. 31), for God’s standard for judging each individual is perfect, being based entirely on the individual’s ability and capacity to serve. So many who appear to man to be great achievers for God will be found to have been working beneath their capacity or with the wrong motives and will thus not receive elevated status in eternity, while others, whose gifts were humble but who used them to the full, will be elevated eternally. Nothing could be fairer; no more could be done to encourage you to put your best foot forward for your Lord. You have God’s unbreakable word that He will remunerate you eternally, and His explanation that the only things you do on earth which have any lasting consequence are those things which you do in His service. What are you going to be in glory—a commoner, a ruler, or a prince? The answer lies entirely in your hands!

Eternal Reward and Eternal Life (Matthew 19:24–30; Mark 10:24b–31; Luke 18:24b–30)

This section teaches that the love of riches is a serious hindrance to saving faith, and that it compromises a believer’s eternal status. This section also teaches that God’s eternal recompense makes it impossible to sacrifice for Him......

Jesus concluded this teaching with the assurance that no sacrifice by a believer for Him would go unrewarded in eternity. We will be overcompensated in eternity for any temporal loss. Think on this—you lose something for a lifetime, say seventy years, yet you receive one hundred times more forever, for all eternity, not for a mere seventy years. This must be the best deal any camel trader ever heard of! What did the rich young ruler, who, by the world’s standards, had everything going for him, lose? He had been invited to join Jesus’ apostles, and had he done so he would have sat on a throne judging (ruling) one of the tribes of Israel eternally (Matt 19:28). He would have been the supernumerary to fill Judas’ place after that unworthy disciple’s defection; indeed, he may well have fulfilled the function Paul was called to fill. His riches kept him from eternal honor and reward. How sad!

Mills, M. (1999). The Life of Christ: A Study Guide to the Gospel Record (Mt 20:20–Mk 10:45). Dallas, TX: 3E Ministries.